So who do you suppose is in charge of keeping up the roads when it snows? Could it be the Virginia Dept. of Transportation? I wonder if they got that memo? And exactly how much advance notice do they need to do their job...because I knew last Saturday that it was going to snow today. I'm so glad our car tax of $600 per year is put to good use! Are you freaking kidding me?
Let me back up...since last Saturday, I had planned to wake up this morning a little early in case it started to snow because it would cause traffic to move a little slower. I didn't leave the house as early as I'd hoped, but I left for work at 7:00am to be there by 8:00. It had in fact started to snow, but there was less than 1/4 inch on the ground. The roads were a little icy, particularly in the neighborhoods so I knew it would be slow, but I had no idea what I was actually in for over the next couple of hours.
As I made the second turn away from house, I suddenly realized that my worst nightmare was about to occur. There was one car turned sideways in the middle of the road and another slid around it. When I approached 267, the toll road 25 minutes later (2 miles), I realized it was going to be a long morning. ...deep breaths and Christmas music were my plan to keep calm.
When all was said and done, I had traveled exactly 10.8 miles in exactly 1 hour and 45 minutes, which means that my average speed was 6.17mph. After those initial 10.8 miles, my final 8 miles went much more smoothly because it hadn't begun to snow much inside the beltway and everyone was stuck on the highways. I had decided to take a few back roads when I could. My final trip time was 2 hours and 20 minutes to drive 18 miles!
Along the way this morning, I saw 11 accidents, ranging from fender benders to cars that had spun 180 degrees and crashed into the Jersey Wall, to an SUV that was completely flipped over (I wonder how fast that guy was going). It was by far the craziest traffic morning I'd ever witnessed. It was honestly like something from an 'end of the world' movie!
After VDOT received much of the blame for the nightmare traffic, for neglecting to be proactive (ultimately they were stuck in the same traffic everyone else was because they decided to start treating the roads after rush hour had started and there were accidents all over the place...really smart guys), they reported that they don't treat the roads until after it starts to snow. I suppose that translates to after several serious accidents have occurred.
We now have several inches of snow and the temperatures are dropping into the 20's tonight. And did you know they don't actually plow anything in Virginia, they just throw sand with some chemicals on top of it...you know, so it can be a big frozen mess in the morning. I can't wait until tomorrow morning! At least Ryan is taking me to work so we can crawl in the HOV lanes where most of the accidents occur because people drive way too fast.
At least the snow is peaceful and beautiful - I do love the snow...I just love it more in Pennsylvania where they know what to do with it and people know how to drive in it.
1 comment:
It is no joke. Any local gov't does not budget for any winter storm.
That's just the way it is.
Secondly, you cannot plan on Saturday for a storm on Wednesday. It could come any day. You got lucky in your planning. For me, I woke up and I was like, "wow, snow!"
And by the way, you cannot claim 6.17MPH unless you are saying that your time was 1.75 hours. Be wary of your units. You only state 1:45 hours. It is not clear what range of units you are in.
And I do not believe that it is VDOT's problem. We had the same problem in Maryland. The problem is that normal people have absolutely no idea how to drive a car. I am not talking about driving in adverse conditions, I am talking about nice sunny days.
That is my thought.
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